10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Our company is based in Guatemala but also offers tours in Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. Whether you are traveling with your family, in a small group, or alone, our tours are customizable to suit your every need and wish. Guatemala has the most reliable places to observe the mythical Horned Guan.

Guatemala 238

Guatemala El Salvador Belize Honduras 238

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Yet they also bring up questions, which I’m going to talk about right now before diving into the specifics of the guides themselves. Steve Howell has spent decades of experience in the field studying the birds of Belize, Costa Rica, and especially Mexico. Two issues came to mind immediately when I examined my reviewer copies.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 203

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2022

Down here in central Mexico, the Canyon Towhee is a constant presence in open areas, including in my garden and around our church. Earlier this month, I came across a family of Spotted Towhees (Olive-backed) with a couple of other strange aspects. The Spotted Towhee (Olive-backed) is a regular in pine-oak and pine forests.

Mexico 198

Mexico North America 2015 Sparrows 198

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

The Trogon family (and order, since the order only includes one family) is quite widespread, being found in all the tropical (and some subtropical) regions of the world. It is also fascinating to see how similar Old World trogons look to their New World relatives, right down to the same flamboyant color patterns.

Mexico 177

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 177

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2022

One such star avian family is the Setophagidae, the birds known as wood-warblers. No, not a warbler but big enough to be one and a star in its own right. Yes, you read that right. Despite being a bird that lacks bright colors commonly found in other members of this famed family, the “Wormer” is one of my favorites.

Costa Rica 269

Costa Rica Nashville Tennessee Turtles 269

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2021

Here are some of the wonderful birds of Mexico’s Hot Country: I’ll start with a bang: What could be better than a Russet-crowned Motmot ? (I Yellow-winged Caciques , showy members of the Blackbird/New World Oriole family, are always conspicuous residents of the region. But enough about me!

Mexico 168

Mexico Blackbirds Sparrows Owls 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2021

A very vocal (though not too visible) family of Steller’s Jays turned up, which was a shock, because here in central Mexico I had never before seen this conifer-loving species below 2900 m (9500 ft). They look different when the right light catches them from the front. As was this Green-striped Brushfinch in el Temascal.

Louisiana 259

Louisiana 2000 Mexico Groups 259

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2017

As the dog days of summer descend upon us here in Mexico, many of our avian residents have bailed out and headed back north to avoid the summertime heat. I have never encountered the white morph birds here in Mexico, so we have very little problem with identification, that you might find with the all white birds.

Mexico 100

Mexico Birds Protection Dogs 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2019

Please study the above photo, which I took a half hour from my home in Morelia, Mexico. In central Mexico, “Spotted” Towhees seem to hybridize freely with Collared Towhees , forming what is known as an intergrade. But the sides are still rufous. Can you see the problem? Dear scientists: I know Towhees are complicated.

Mexico 113

Mexico America Species Birds 113

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2019

Paul Lewis moved from California to Mexico 36 years ago. He lived first in Mexicali, and now in the historic city of Morelia–about halfway between Guadalajara and Mexico City–where he and his wife pastor a small church. Sorry, this photo is actually from the next state over (Lake Zempoala, Mexico state).

San Francisco 116

San Francisco Mexico Turkey California 116

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2017

Spring is in the air, and all around the Baja desert I am seeing a plethora of species, all looking for love, in what appears to the right places. A member of the small Ptiliogonatidae family of silky-flycatchers, of which there are only three other species besides our local Phainopepla , Phainopepl nitens.

Costa Rica 104

Costa Rica Panama Nevada Guatemala 104

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2018

Corey and family will be getting eyes on all manner of Yucatan birds as they hit the Caribbean coast of Mexico this weekend. Lucky, right? However, local birders have been reporting an unexpected Henslow’s Sparrow that I wouldn’t mind getting my eyes on this weekend. How about you?

Honduras 100

Honduras 2018 Mexico Birds 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

We all have them: families of birds that are maddeningly similar, forever leaving nagging doubts about our identifications. Someday I will get up the nerve to write about the ten, yes, TEN Empidonax species I believe I have seen in my little corner of Mexico. New World Warblers in non-reproductive plumage.

Mexico 136

Mexico Argentina Experience Experiments 136

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2022

Necessity being the mother of invention, and all that, the almost-total disappearance of Mexico’s second-largest lake in the spring of 2021 forced me to try a new birding route last May. In order to reach Iramuco, which is right on the shore, I must drive yet another half hour. Verdins were everywhere. And in every position.

Ducks 204

Ducks Mexico Fish Species 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2019

We see a closer shot of the river itself, hawks flying across the span, and then we see that brown line again, close up, a wall of brown panels filling the right side of the screen, continuing into the distance, no end in sight, while a white pick-up truck drives parallel to it at the far left of the screen.

Advocacy 266

Advocacy Mexico United States Texas 266

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2016

Hardly a brochure from the Southwest US or Mexico is published without the Roadrunners image on it. So, you can imagine my excitement when my first Greater Roadrunner nearly walked right up to me as I sat in a blind observing Costa’s Hummingbirds sitting on a nest.

Rattlesnake 100

Rattlesnake Mexico Coyotes United States 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2018

In a little less than two weeks my family and I will be enjoying a long weekend on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Having never birded in Mexico at all I was initially concerned about identifying the myriad species that can be seen. Hopefully, I’ll do better than 85% correct when I’m in Mexico.

Mexico 104

Mexico Belize Honduras Science 104

10,000 Birds

MAY 29, 2019

This town sits at the edge of a river in Mexico’s Tierra Caliente (Hot Country), an inland basin between the coastal Sierra Madre del Sur and the much higher Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. However, some of Paso Ancho’s most beautiful species are to be seen right along that river. Sometimes, Pygmy Owls look rather fierce.

Squirrels 113

Squirrels Birds Mexico 2013 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2020

Some lucky kids who live near forested rivers, streams, or other wetlands from southern Mexico all the way to the Brazilian Pantanal might be familiar with one of the more unique members of the avian kind. This bird won’t really look like anything you have ever seen because it’s in a family all on its own. Is it a rail?

Costa Rica 223

Costa Rica Cleveland Turkey Parrots 223

Critter News

JANUARY 26, 2012

MEXICO CITY – Animal rights activists staged a protest against the sale of pets in Mexico City, urging residents to adopt dogs and other animals instead of buying them. Eight of every 10 dogs sold in Mexico end up in the streets, with most of them having been family pets at some point, official figures show.

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Protest Protesting Protesters Adopt Dog 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2017

This large reserve has its namesake mountain range running right down the middle of it, and virtually no roads. The Golden Eagle is not only the National Bird of Mexico, but considered very threatened. These were my first Golden Eagles here in Mexico. Last Saturday was just exactly that kind of day. Here is the Gila Woodpecker.

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Eagles Mexico California Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2017

I happen to think the Crested Cara cara is one of the most beautiful birds in the falcon family. They stay here in Mexico despite the heat, and raise their families. This male hoped right up on the side of my hide. When ever I am over on the Mexico Mainland, my eyes are always looking for Russet-crowned Mot Mots.

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Seattle Mexico 2017 Falcons 106

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2021

At the time, Dreher’s family owned the greatest brewing empire in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in the 1830s, young Anton embarked on a “Grand Tour” of sorts befitting a promising young brewery heir.

Boston 173

Boston Austria Industry Europe 173

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

But my family moved to northern California when I was four years old, in 1962, effectively quadrupling my hummer list with the addition of the Anna’s , Rufous , and Allen’s Hummingbirds. And so would the situation have remained, except that I moved to Morelia, Mexico in 1994. (I

Minnesota 124

Minnesota ALA Mexico California 124

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2016

Without a doubt, one of the best bits of writing on the split of the two birds, was actually featured right here on this site. The Common Gallinule , is the most wide spread of all the members of the rail family, being found from Canada, to Chile, Europe, Asia, Africa, much of the Pacific, and the Galapagos Islands.

Chile 100

Chile Breeders Asia Mexico 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2011

It may seem like cruel and unusual punishment for we denizens of the New World to spend an entire week celebrating what is surely the coolest family of birds in the world, a family that is sadly absent from the Old World, but it can’t be helped.

United States 178

United States South America Cooking Family 178

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2018

Add to the fact that we have been living in Mexico, and are now going to stay in the US, at least for a little while, means new cell phones, new auto and RV insurance, banking, and of course, some place to live. Today, I saw a handful of Mallards , two Common Mergansers, and a Wood Duck Family. Mexico species – 148.

New Zealand 110

New Zealand Seattle Qatar South Africa 110

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Though wood-warblers, the mostly brightly colored birds of the family Parulidae, are only found in the New World we felt that birders the world over would be pleased to see a plethora of posts about these striking and sought after species.

United States 155

United States South America 2011 2012 155

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

The rest of Mexico is not included, nor is Hawaii (which isn’t in North America, after all, but has been accepted as part of the American Birding Association area). A small range map is placed in the upper right/left hand corner showing summer, winter, resident, migration, and rare locations. GUIDE COVERAGE.

North America 278

North America America Birds California Condor 278

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2017

Some birds are so familiar, even non-birders can’t help but know what they are, or at least what family they belong to. The only regularly occurring member of its esteemed family within the ABA boundaries, this cool bird exhibits the same sort of iridescence and striking looks that challenge us to stop gazing at any of the Trogonidae.

Costa Rica 115

Costa Rica Dominican Republic Kansas Guinea 115

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2015

It’s a family vacation, sure, but there’s always time for birding and in Florida, the birding often finds you. There are a few places where that is especially obvious, and one of those is the town of Cape Coral, just north of Naples along the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve spent the last week in southwest Florida.

Owls 194

Owls Florida Tenant United States 194

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2014

The Yellow-rumped Warbler ( Setophaga coronata ) complex is one of the most abundant and widespread representatives of the New World warbler family in North America, present in many parts of the United States even through the winter months, when the birds feed on small fruits and other foods, including sap. 2011; Milá et al.

United States 226

United States 2011 Guatemala North America 226

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2014

In the ABA region, southeast Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas host many sites right along the Mexican border that fit this description. Every year, birders in both of these states find species more typical of Mexico (and sometimes within plain sight of Mexico!)

Thailand 166

Thailand Birds 2013 China 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

For a few years now, every time they visit their family here, he or they go with me to bird my favorite sites. Birding on Lake Cuitzeo is a real challenge right now, because what little water has gathered in the center of the lake is surrounded by extensive mud flats. His wife, Fany, is also a biologist, and is from Morelia.

Ducks 247

Ducks 2020 Eggs California 247

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Now don’t get me wrong, I am very fond of the entire warbler family, bright, colorful birds that they are. Fortunately, the Xanthus’s Hummingbirds did not disappoint, and made their appearance right on time. I just had different expectations.

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Groups Family Rights Birds 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

The last weekend of January found me in the frosty Pacific Northwest, meeting some long over due work and family obligations. This wonderful piece of birding real estate can be found 8 miles east of Olympia, and an hour’s drive south of Seattle Washington, right along the I-5 corridor. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife 104

Wildlife Seattle Bald Eagle Geese 104

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2017

When it comes to a one stop shopping for food and shelter, no other plant is as widely used as the Cardon Cactus family. While all this was going on, I discovered that a couple of Gila Woodpeckers had located their nest in a cavity in the Elephant Cactus right next to the one getting all the feeding activity.

Elephants 104

Elephants Woodpeckers Squirrels Shelters 104